Bloody hell, if Astle was once a specialist bowler I can see why he tried developing his batting.

Surprises me though TBH, as a batsman he always looked fairly "natural" to me. Something of a surprise if he only thought to try it late, as I'd have imagined someone who had such an aptitude for batting would've tried it early.

[QUOTE=Richard;1843402]Bloody hell, if Astle was once a specialist bowler I can see why he tried developing his batting.

Surprises me though TBH, as a batsman he always looked fairly "natural" to me. Something of a surprise if he only thought to try it late, as I'd have imagined someone who had such an aptitude for batting would've tried it early.[/QUOTE

Fair point, I guess Astle was never a specialist bowler, but he did start for Canterbury as a bowler who could bat, before moving up the order. how about Aaron Redmond, opener now, but started off a spinner, down at seven or eight?!?!

I find it amazing that some players begin as specialists in one discipline and then somehow manage to carve out highly successful careers in another. Here are three left-arm spinners who famously served time at Number 11 before moving up the order:

Mark Richardson
Wilfred Rhodes
Garry Sobers

There are others too. Nasser Hussain began, I think, as a legspinner who turned to batting when his spin deserted him.

MW Tate in a way was the grand-daddy of the lot, whose career had not 2 but 3 phases - he was a spinner who turned into a specialist batsman who turned into a fast bowler.

Any others spring to mind?

Not true for Sobers.

In his very second first class game he batted at number four. Above him were the openers and Weekes and Walcott. He was a child at 17.

He scored his first FC hundred in just his fifth game batting at number four.

Richardson was an offie but apparently he was also used as a lower order slogger by Otago not sure where I found that out but there ya go.

Styris was a bowler who batted a bit.

Astle was a bowler that was a lower order slogger, he was an allrounder at the grades below though.

Tim Lythe was an offspinner who is now becoming an allrounder/batsman in FC cricket, he's a hard man that one, no way should he be still playing cricket after that cancer.

Originally Posted by Athlai

Jeets doesn't really deserve to be bowling.

Originally Posted by Athlai

Well yeah Tendy is probably better than Bradman, but Bradman was 70 years ago, if he grew up in the modern era he'd still easily be the best. Though he wasn't, can understand the argument for Tendy even though I don't agree.

Bloody hell, if Astle was once a specialist bowler I can see why he tried developing his batting.

Surprises me though TBH, as a batsman he always looked fairly "natural" to me. Something of a surprise if he only thought to try it late, as I'd have imagined someone who had such an aptitude for batting would've tried it early.

Astle initially made the Canterbury First Class & List A sides as a miserly medium bowler batting at no.9 & 10. Even though they always knew he had talent with the bat, the Canterbury side of the early to mid 90s had strong batting all the way down & according to his coaches at the time, they couldn't fit him in higher

Astle- Does not fit the thread. Was always regarded as a batting talent first, bowling talent second. His first years in FC and List A cricket he played predominantly as a bowling all-rounder because it was convenient for Canterbury.

Styris- yes. Was a bowling all-rounder (barely even an all-rounder, more a lower order hitter) throughout his FC career and even for his first 2 years in the Black Caps. Does not get nearly enough credit for basically turning himself into our BEST ODI batsmen during the course of his international career

Richardson- yes. Was very highly regarded as a 17-18 year old bowler. Was a sort of Tim Southee-esque tail-ender who could smash the spinners, was generally scared of the quicks, and might have been good enough to bat 7 or 8 if he improved his shot selection, but was happier batting 10 or 11 and trying to hit 6s.

Famously once hit 33 (the required amount) off the last over to win an OD game between Otago B and Canterbury B.

Redmond- Apparently he didn't impress in Devon, at least according to Richard, but was always regarded as a multi-skilled cricketer in NZ, and initially was seen more as a bowler.

Redmond- Apparently he didn't impress in Devon, at least according to Richard, but was always regarded as a multi-skilled cricketer in NZ, and initially was seen more as a bowler.

Nope, his batting was pretty decent over here (for an 18-year-old foreigner unaccustomed to conditions) but no-one thought much of his bowling. Really surprised to hear he was thought of as such a high-quality wristspinner back home.